Bots - How to control infestations and remove bot fly eggs from a horse
or pony

Mutual grooming leads to the ingestion
of bot eggs by horses

Bots are not worms but are the maggot stage of a large fly, the Bot Fly
or Gadfly, which is active during the summer months buzzing around horses
and ponies at grass and laying eggs on the hairs of the coat.

Bot eggs are extremely common around the shoulders, neck and legs of
a horse or pony where they appear as tiny yellow, white, or grey specks
attached to the hairs.

When a horse licks his coat, or a companion's, he will ingest, or swallow, the bot eggs.

HATCHING OF BOT FLY EGGS

Once eaten the bot fly eggs hatch and tiny larvae burrow through the
soft tissue in the horse's intestinal tract.

Eventually the larvae appear
as large maggots in the stomach of a horse or pony during the winter months.

There may be large groups of these unpleasant parasites fixed to the
wall of the horse's stomach where they can cause erosions and ulcers.

CLINICAL SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS OF BOT INFESTATION IN A HORSE OR PONY

Visible clinical signs can be difficult to pin down, but badly parasitised
horses are dull, in poor condition and often lethargic.

Bot infestation often occurs in a horse which also has an infestation
of other worms lower in his gut. It can be difficult to distinguish which
is causing the symptoms in the horse.

The main internal medical symptoms resulting from a bot infestation are:
Stomach ulcers, peritonitis, colic, blockages
in the stomach and, in the early stages, pockets of pus in the mouth of
the horse.

HOW TO TREAT BOT INFESTATIONS IN A HORSE OR PONY
- CONTROL OF BOT FLIES

Treatment must be aimed at removing the bots during the winter before
they let go of their hold on the stomach wall and pass down the gut to
emerge in the horse's droppings.

Dosing a horse with a Bot Wormer in the middle of winter will help to
break the life cycle of these parasites.

Using equine insect repellant and fly sheets on your horse during the
summer may help to reduce the level of bot infestation - but it will be
impossible to stop all bot flies.

Regular removal and disposal of droppings from the horse's pasture will
help to prevent some of the larvae burrowing down into the soil and hatching
into bot flies.

HOW TO REMOVE BOT EGGS FROM A HORSE'S COAT?

It can be quite difficult and fiddly to remove bot eggs from a horse
or pony's coat.

Popular methods of removing are:

A fine toothed comb can pull the eggs off - you may be able to find
a "bot comb"- similar to a cat or dog flea comb or a nit comb - a metal
one is best.

A specially designed "bot knife" - available from saddlers for use
on a horse.

A disposable razor or razor blade used very carefully.

An old method is to use vinegar to kill the bot eggs.

A grooming block made from lava stone can be effective in removing
bots.

Spraying with Savlon liquid has been reported to make the eggs drop
off.

You can pick the eggs off the horse or pony with your fingernails
- this is very time consuming! Don't leave any eggs underneath your
nails to hatch!

Some horse owners use sandpaper to remove the bot eggs.

Once the eggs have been removed applying baby oil to the horse's coat
may prevent new eggs sticking.

We may use cookies on this website. Cookies are small snippets of data stored on your computer and some have already been set. By continuing to use our website you are accepting our use of cookies.
Horse-Advice.com is a participant in the Amazon Europe S.à r.l. Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk